Topline
At least five people have been killed by falling trees as Storm Ciarán hit western Europe on Wednesday night and into Thursday with peak winds of over 118 mph knocking out power and shutting down schools, airports and public transportation across the region.
Firefighters remove a tree lying on the pavement after collapsing, due to the strong wind, killing a … [+]
Key Facts
In France, a truck driver was killed by a tree that fell on his vehicle, French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said, according to the Associated Press.
A woman in Spain and a woman in the Netherlands were also reportedly killed by falling trees, according to local emergency services, Reuters reported.
A five-year-old and a 64-year-old woman from Germany were killed by falling trees in Ghent, Belgium, officials said, according to Reuters, and a 46-year-old woman was also fatally injured by a falling tree in northern Germany, the Associated Press reported.
KLM, the Dutch airline, canceled all of its flights departing and arriving in the Netherlands due to the wind speeds, and cross-continental trains as well as local trains were canceled throughout the Netherlands, France and Spain, the Associated Press and Reuters reported.
About 1.2 million homes in France lost power—including half of the households in France’s Brittany region—the Associated Press reported, citing a French electricity company.
Storm Ciarán is hitting western Europe two weeks after Storm Babet, which killed at least three people in the U.K., and earned a rare “red weather warning” in Scotland due to heavy rain and flooding, the New York Times reported.
Key Background
Simon Partridge, a senior meteorologist at the Met Office, the U.K. government’s weather agency, reportedly said the “worst” of the storm was over for England on Thursday morning, adding the storm was “starting to lose the energy it had when it first arrived.” Partridge said parts of the U.K. will still experience heavy rainfall, according to the Associated Press. According to a report from the Met Office in June, global sea surface temperatures in April and May were the highest on record since 1850, with heavy storms and hurricanes more likely to occur with rising ocean temperatures. “The rainfall associated with these types of storms is more severe due to climate change, and the storm surges are higher and thus more damaging due to the higher sea levels,” Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, told CNN.
Further Reading
What Warmer Oceans Mean For The Environment—From Dangerous Storms To Severe Flooding (Forbes)
Hurricane Otis Death Toll Rises To 45 While 47 Are Still Missing, Mexican Authorities Say (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/britneynguyen/2023/11/02/at-least-five-dead-as-storm-ciarn-batters-western-europe/